ON a sunny August morning I found artist Greg Thatcher nestled in the ‘rib cage’ of a mature yew near the entrance to St. Mary’s church, writes photographer Simon Pizzey
Before him an amazingly detailed drawing of the inside structure of the tree, yew no. 74 (which seemed appropriate given Greg is the same age).
Unruffled and perfectly affable at being disturbed we make our polite introductions.
Greg, is a Canadian artist, teaching drawing and transcendental meditation in the US.
He was inspired to visit the Painswick yew trees after seeing a photograph in a holiday brochure, he has returned nearly every year since (Covid excepted) 1991.
It’s his fifth year working on his present drawing, a labour of love if I ever saw one, using a limited number of hard grade pencils.
Greg says his relationship to the trees is spiritual, he tries to capture their essence and personality.
“They draw you in, it’s like a quest”.
He even remarks that he feels the trees helped him recover after the death of his mother.
He adds: “I’m so lucky my wife Jan fully supports me in this work.”
It's easy to drive or cycle through Painswick and take the yews for granted but as Greg remarks: “There are few places in the world like Painswick where yew trees grow together in pairs to form avenues.
“In my home state Iowa, they are only used in farm hedges.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here